Walker Of The Worlds

2790  Checking The Corpse For Clues

Lin Mu made his way upstairs, examining the bedrooms.

The rooms bore the marks of a quiet, ordinary life. Two clearly belonged to adults—neatly arranged, with folded blankets and clothes tucked away. The other two had toys scattered about, drawings pinned to walls, and smaller beds—clearly childrenʼs rooms.

”Two couples and their children, most likely,” Lin Mu surmised.

But despite his thorough inspection, he found nothing unusual.

No marks of teleportation. No hidden doors. No cursed items. Just silence. And emptiness.

With a frown, Lin Mu stepped away from the house.

ʼI should check the other locations where disappearances occurred in the past,ʼ he thought. ʼThough the chances of finding anything are probably even lower there.ʼ

Too much time had passed. Whatever traces there had been would likely have faded.

Still, he would try.

With that, Lin Mu left the area, phasing silently into the earth and reemerging on a quiet, empty street.

He moved from place to place, visiting the other areas tied to heretic activity and disappearances. But no traces remained there either. One of the areas had already returned to normal, with people living there again, going about their lives unaware of what had once happened.

The other location was still deserted. Even the guards had abandoned their posts long ago, the investigation there buried along with any lingering interest.

Lin Mu checked the empty buildings and alleyways one last time but found nothing of use.

23:44

He walked a short distance, then sank into the ground once more, returning to the traveler district.

There, he entered his room, where his companions were waiting.

SHUA!

”Youʼre back!” Daoist Chu was the first to notice, his face lighting up with relief.

”Yes,” Lin Mu replied with a nod.

”What happened?” Daoist Chu asked, the urgency in his tone sharp and immediate.

”Quite a lot… Iʼll tell you everything,” Lin Mu said as he sat down. Then, in a calm but firm voice, he began to narrate his findings in detail.

The tale that followed left his companions stunned—puzzled, and deeply concerned.

The truth was more twisted than any of them had expected.

”Itʼs all fake?” Meng Bai blinked, shocked that such a thing could be true.

”Amitabha… there was indeed something foul about this place,” Monk Hushu murmured, his earlier suspicions now validated.

”Those bastards!” Daoist Chu slammed his fist against his palm. ”Just let me get back and report this to the Immortal Court. Now theyʼll finally have an excuse to act.” He clenched his jaw. ”Everything these people have done... itʼs more than enough for the Immortal Court to deliver judgment.”

”Perhaps,” Lin Mu said, his tone thoughtful. ”But weʼll still need more proof. I feel like what weʼre seeing is just the muddied surface of a deep pond. Thereʼs still a lot we donʼt know.”

”Hmm… youʼre right,” Daoist Chu admitted after a pause. ”But where do we start? There are no traces left. If we want to find more, youʼll have to investigate deeper.”

”Yes. Iʼll probably have to look into the offices of the Archbishop and the Cardinal,” Lin Mu replied with a nod.

”The Archbishops are manageable,” Daoist Chu said, rubbing his chin. ”But the Cardinals… if I recall correctly, their strength matches Seventh Tribulation Stage immortals.”

He continued, ”I read an old record in the Immortal Court. An emissary once visited this world and met the Cardinals and the Pope. He assessed their strength as being at least the Seventh Tribulation Stage of the Immortal Realm, if not higher. The Pope, however, was undoubtedly a Transcendent expert. And there may be more like him among their ranks.”

”I see…” Lin Mu said grimly. ”Looks like weʼll need to be careful—especially since we donʼt fully understand their cultivation.”

”Do you have any clues?” he asked.

”None,” Daoist Chu admitted. ”Even the records are sparse. There havenʼt been any official spars or public demonstrations of power, so itʼs hard to gauge them accurately. But the emissary was confident their power could match ours.”

”Then perhaps I know where to start,” Lin Mu said, a glint in his eye.

”And whatʼs that?” Daoist Chu asked, sitting up.

SHUA!

”This.” Lin Mu revealed the corpse of Inquisitor Bernard, placing it gently before them.

”Is this the man?” Daoist Chu asked, peering at the body.

”Yes… I can begin uncovering their secrets from this,” Lin Mu replied.

”Then letʼs begin,” Daoist Chu said immediately. He was not one to delay when the matter was urgent.

SHUA!

The two men extended their immortal senses and began to probe the corpse. They delved into the Dantian, where they found the Dao Embryo floating within the Dao Shell. It was weak—flickering, as if on the verge of vanishing entirely.

”Weʼll have to be fast,” Lin Mu said. The remnant cultivation would not last much longer.

Because he had killed and immediately stored the corpse in his ring, it had retained a small portion of its original cultivation.

”Yes,” Daoist Chu agreed, scanning deeper into the Dantian.

Almost instantly, his brows furrowed. ”Thereʼs no Nascent Soul? Did it dissipate already?”

”No. There never was one,” Lin Mu said calmly. ”None of them have Nascent Souls.”

”They donʼt?” Meng Bai blinked. ”But… how can someone be a cultivator without one?”

”Not all cultivation paths are the same,” Monk Hushu answered. ”Body Cultivators donʼt have Nascent Souls either.”

”So… is he a Body Cultivator?” Meng Bai asked, trying to wrap his head around it.

”No,” Lin Mu answered. ”They do use Qi, at least on some level, despite the fact that there is no Qi circulating in their bodies.”

”External manipulation?” Daoist Chu guessed.

”I didnʼt sense any external Qi being used—not even when I was observing the guards and the inquisitor training. They werenʼt drawing power from the environment. It still seemed to be coming from within their bodies,” Lin Mu explained.

He and Daoist Chu continued probing the corpse, examining it as thoroughly as they could—but they still couldnʼt uncover the secret behind this bizarre cultivation method.